2012 Cadillac XTS

Cadillac launches a bunch of in-car gadgets. Oh, and a new flagship.

Cadillac’s front-wheel-drive, V-8–powered chariot of South Florida, the DTS, was put out to pasture this year. Its platform was introduced when its current octogenarian owners were mere quinquagenarians; in plain English, this means that the DTS underpinnings could be traced back some 30 years. Rather than replace it with a BMW-chasing, rear-drive four-door of the sort that enthusiasts demand and shoppers would probably overlook, it will instead be succeeded at the top of the Cadillac sedan range with the XTS, a sensible car built on the company’s Premium Epsilon platform. (A rear-driver has been rumored, however.) Is the XTS a grandpamobile? Sure—so long as your grandfather is a computer geek.

A Few Words on the Car

Cadillac didn’t bother to spend much time talking about the car itself. The XTS is based on the same platform that underpins the Buick LaCrosse, and mechanically, much is the same here. The wheelbase and front and rear tracks are identical between the two cars, even if the Caddy is a full five inches longer overall. “Big” is a theme for the XTS: with 18 cubic feet, Cadillac says it has more trunk space than the Audi A8L, BMW 7-series, or Mercedes-Benz S-class. The rear seat also is said to be enormous, exceeding the legroom offered in the back of the Audi A6, BMW 5-series, and Mercedes E-class by several inches apiece.

Like the upper-level LaCrosse models, the XTS is powered by the latest iteration of GM’s 3.6-liter V-6. Referred to by the LFX engine code, the mill makes 300 hp and 264 lb-ft of torque in the Caddy. The only transmission available is a six-speed automatic, and also like the big Buick, the XTS will offer a Haldex-based all-wheel-drive system. Front-wheel drive is standard.

To deliver the Cadillac of rides—and perhaps to avoid punishment from the standard 19-inch rims—the XTS will come standard with magnetic ride control, a rear air suspension, and the company’s HiPer Strut setup in the front. The first two are focused on cushiness, while the latter works to diminish the torque steer that can result from 300 ponies rushing to the front wheels. (Read an in-depth explanation of how HiPer Strut works here.) Standard Brembo brakes will work to bring the XTS, which is said to weigh more than 4100 pounds, to a halt.

Sync? How About the Kitchen Sink

Now that we’ve covered what we know about the mechanical bits, let’s get down to bytes. If the XTS is anything like the LaCrosse to drive, it will be pleasant if unexciting, so Cadillac is seemingly appealing to buyers with a Best Buy’s worth of tech features. Given the long list of gadgetry, it’s a move that will shame even Lincoln in the Mediocre Vehicle with Eleventy Billion Features Olympiad. Let’s dive in.

To begin, the XTS marks the debut of Cadillac’s CUE infotainment system. We’ve got a full dive on it here, with technical specs and very early user impressions, but here’s the brief version: A capacitive touch screen like the one used on the iPhone and most other smartphones sits atop the center stack. Nearly all moving buttons and knobs have been eliminated and replaced with a touch-sensitive panel. The instrument panel can also be optionally replaced with a 12.3-inch LCD screen; this can be reconfigured to display an array of themes so vast, users of any age may get dizzy enough to need a few puffs from the ol’ oxygen tank.

Perhaps you’re unimpressed. You’re muttering, “MyFord Touch has been around (albeit functioning poorly) for over a year already.” Cadillac knows it needs to differentiate itself and to offer even more in the gadget-supremacy race, and this is part of the reason the XTS also features the following obscenely long list of tech options: adaptive cruise control, active brake assist, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision assist, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive front lighting, a capless fuel filler, a color head-up display, OnStar, and a driver’s seat that vibrates if the car thinks a collision is imminent.

We understand Cadillac’s decision to try to make the XTS more appealing to younger customers with technology, as well as its paeans to older buyers and the limo business by offering a cushy suspension and Sopranos-friendly trunk. What we’re a little worried about is how each demographic will react: Apple-worshipping tech nerds driving an XTS would seem an even less likely scenario than Mortimer and Randolph Duke fiddling with CUE. We’ll have to wait to slide behind the wheel—and those glorious LCDs—to see if the two elements can coexist.

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